The Bulge and Beyond: The Untold Stories of the World War II Generation from Hometown, USA

The Things Our Fathers Saw, Book 6

By: Matthew Rozell

Narrated by: John Pirhalla

Volume six of The Things Our Fathers Saw World War II oral history series. In The Bulge and Beyond, you will be with the soldiers going into the heart of the bloodiest single battle fought by the US Army in American history, the so-called "Battle of the Bulge". You will be with them as they feel the sense the fear of the unknown, the crush of impending doom, the scale of being amongst the columns of young, tired men slogging into a forest, medieval and dark, with the complete inability to ever get warm again.19,000 American GIs never saw their mothers again.

“Hell came in like a freight train. I heard an explosion and went back to where my friend was. His legs were blown off-he bled to death in my arms”. Maybe our veterans did not volunteer to tell us their stories; perhaps we were too busy with our own lives to ask. But they opened up to a younger generation, when a history teacher taught his students to engage. As we forge ahead as a nation, do we owe it to ourselves to become reacquainted with a generation that is fast leaving us, who asked for nothing but gave everything, to attune ourselves as Americans to a broader appreciation of what we stand for? This is the sixth audiobook in the masterful WWII oral history series, but you can listen to them in any order. It's time to listen to them.

Remember how a generation of young Americans truly saved the world. Or maybe it was all for nothing? Dying for freedom isn’t the worst that could happen. Being forgotten is.

A must-read in every high school in America. It is a very poignant look back at our greatest generation; maybe it will inspire the next one.

©2020 Matthew Rozell (P)2021 Matthew Rozell

The Things Our Fathers Saw: The Bulge and Beyond A great book

My father was a forward observer in the 26th Infantry Division in the Battle of the Bulge. His description of war as an innocent very young man, are things that would have broken me. He didn't understand the "hate" of man that he witnessed in the war. I think that Matthew Rozell conveyed that very thing through the stories of the Veterans he included in this book. The US GI's were young boys, thrust into a war that had been raging for 3 years when they got there. What these men saw and had to do aged them beyond their years. But they came back and were grateful for the GI bill to get a college degree to try to put what they had seen and done behind them. A very good read that sheds light on "The Greatest Generation" in a unique way through their own words and experiences. I highly recommend this series of books to better understand our vanishing heroes.

the real guys in WW2 front line

excellent personal details that brought the story to life. the accounts of battle of the bulge made me think about my father,'s experience

Amazing book

I loved this book the author does an amazing job bringing these veterans to life.

Best Books Series for WWII testimony

Do not hesitate to listen to this book. It is phenomenal, and so is the rest of the series.

awesome

awesome story from world War 2 veterans a must read ,the whole series is excellent

Their own words

The soldiers, sailors, Marines and others in their own words.

Reader was good but some passages seem repeated, not sure if that's the reader or the writer or the interviewees repeating.

Very detailed account. Amazing listen.

The narrator; John Pirhalla, is fantastic. Unlike other audiobooks, where narrators don’t match the story, Pirhalla
is probably around 20 - 25 years old, so it gives more credibility to the story.
The book goes into great detail of this one young man’s experience during the B.O.B.
It is remarkable he survived. This is a book I will listen too again.

My Father Was There.

Thank you for the story that my dad never told us, it was very sad what those brave people had to endure.